Combining additive manufacturing and vacuum casting for an efficient manufacturing of safety glasses

Milan Sljivic,Mico Stanojevic,Ana Pavlovic,Cristiano Fragassa

doi:10.5937/fmet1604393s

Abstract

This paper presents the possibility of integration of modern techniques of additive manufacturing and vacuum casting in the rapid manufacturing of complex parts. The prototype of safety glasses was directly developed from a CAD model, which is used as a main model for making moulds in a vacuum casting process. The development stages, which include additive production of glasses and the process of vacuum casting with the definition of material components, preheating temperature, the forming of silicone mould, the casting process, hardening and other parameters are presented in this paper. It is proved that by using this technique it is possible to produce complex functional parts quickly, with high precision, accuracy and surface quality, while significantly reducing costs of development and production compared to other similar technologies.

Highlights

The more time spent on the product development, the more opportunities for profit are lost
The RP technique, which was used in a specific case for making master models of safety glasses, is a 3D printer based on FDM principle (Stratasys - Dimension Elite), which plays a key role in the integrated process
Bonding plastic gates on the negative of safety glasses which has a role to form an inlet channel in the silicone mould and to facilitate the positioning and fixation of the negative in the silicone casting frame, according to Figure 4a. 4

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The more time spent on the product development, the more opportunities for profit are lost. Recognizing the need to create more prototypes of the same part, efforts have been made to develop a cost-effective system of rapid prototyping of replicas of parts. This system would allow users to check design, quality and other tests before the start of mass production and presentation of products on the market. Limits in usage of rapid prototyping techniques are mainly related to high costs of using these systems. These costs are generally related to the purchase, amortization and maintenance of RP systems, the cost of materials and the cost of involvement of qualified personnel.

THE ROLE OF 3D PRINTING IN AN INTEGRATED PROCESS

THE ROLE OF VACUUM CASTING IN AN INTEGRATED PROCESS

PART A PART B MIXING

CONCLUSIONS